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Nigel Hayes contributes despite scoring woes

Associated Press
Published 5:35 p.m. CT March 22, 2016

Wisconsin's Nigel Hayes (10) and Xavier's Kaiser Gates (22) chase the ball during the first half of a second-round men's college basketball game in the NCAA Tournament on Sunday in St. Louis.(Photo: Charlie Riedel, AP)

MADISON - Wisconsin's Nigel Hayes made an important adjustment this March.

The verbose forward once expressed his admiration for stenographers at the NCAA Tournament. This year, it's actress Lea Michele.

That's Hayes — always finding a way to contribute on and off the court, even while in a shooting slump.

"So if she's watching this, if she hears this, hello. I'm available," a straight-faced Hayes said jokingly last week during a tournament press conference in St. Louis.

The seventh-seeded Badgers lasted through the weekend, keeping alive their hopes of making a third straight trip to the Final Four.

Wisconsin is headed to Philadelphia on Friday night to play sixth-seeded Notre Dame in an East Region semifinal.

Hayes averages a team-high 15.9 points. But so far, the Badgers have advanced in the tournament despite Hayes' struggles from the field. He's 5 of 27 from the field in two NCAA games, including 0 of 11 from behind the 3-point arc.

The shooting woes carried over from the Big Ten Tournament, when Hayes was 2 of 15 from the field in a 70-58 loss to Nebraska.

Hayes said after the 66-63 victory on Sunday over Xavier that there is always room for improvement. He also noted a bright spot.

Wisconsin needed guard Bronson Koenig's buzzer-beating 3 to defeat the Musketeers in a game in which Hayes scored just six points and shot 2 of 10 from the field.

Koenig's clutch shot "gave us that extra confidence knowing that we can still play that sub-par — our best player was poop again today — and we're still able to win games," said Hayes, referring to himself.

But Hayes has contributed in other ways.

Off the court, he's one of the team leaders and a provider of comic relief. He can be smart and corny at the same time. And Hayes always seems to lighten tension when the lights are bright in a press conference.

On the court, straight-arrow coach Greg Gard points to other parts of Hayes' game.

The 6-foot-8 Hayes had eight rebounds against Xavier, when he was also assigned to help cover Musketeers leading scorer Trevon Bluiett. The 6-6 Bluiett was 3 of 11 from the field for seven points, more than eight below his season average.

Against Pittsburgh, Hayes' assignments included covering 6-7 Jamel Artis or 6-9 Michael Young during a defensive-minded scrum.

Gard said Hayes' athleticism and size allow him to match up with almost anyone on the floor.

"He was not, I don't think, dedicated to the defensive end of the floor months ago," Gard said Monday about Hayes. "He understands now that he can help us in that way. I think he's really understood now how important he is to our defensive scheme as a whole."